Oakland Park warehouse becoming downtown destination

The outside front plaza of the vacant warehouse that the City of Oakland… (Taimy Alvarez, Sun Sentinel )

July 4, 2013|By Larry Barszewski, Sun Sentinel

OAKLAND PARK — An old Sears warehouse is setting the table for the city's ambitious plans to transform its downtown into a culinary arts district.

The Funky Buddha Brewery began serving its brewed-on-site craft beers to customers in June at the 1975 warehouse, dubbed Oakland Station because of its location alongside the Florida East Coast Railroad tracks on Northeast 38th Street near Dixie Highway.

Stork's Bakery, a popular Wilton Manors spot, is close to signing a lease for a 4,000-square-foot operation in space adjacent to the brewery.

And the city, this month, is applying for a $150,000 grant from Broward County to help remodel another 8,000 square feet of the warehouse to create an indoor, European-style central market for about 20 vendors selling meats, cheeses, fish and produce.

"It would be the place to go, and it would really anchor the district," said project manager Allison Justice with Redevelopment Management Associates.

While Stork's Bakery owner Peter Dekaj said a final lease hasn't been signed, it's almost a certainty.

"The only reason I went over there is because of the brewery and the market and Stork's working together," Dekaj said. "I think it's a brilliant idea."

Commissioners are concerned that RMA and the property owner couldn't find a private investor willing to start up a market in the warehouse, but they have agreed to apply for the Broward grant to keep the momentum going. Besides Oakland Station, the city also has an urban farm being planted at Jaco Pastorius Park, just across the tracks.

If the city creates the market and begins operating it, commissioners would like to see it turned over to private hands as soon as possibile. Officials estimated the city would have to put in about $150,000 toward the remodeling, and the market would cost about $201,000 to operate the first year.

Commissioners backed off a more ambitious proposal that would have extended the market outdoors on the east side of the building. Officials said a smaller proposal might have a better chance of winning county funding and it's not clear if residents in apartments to the east would be supportive of adding a noisier, outdoor area to the market.

The city hasn't committed to anything so far. Officials won't find out the grant results until September and could even decline a grant if they are selected but don't want to go forward.

"I think this is a great opportunity," Mayor John Adornato said. "An indoor permanent market space is a great draw."